Sunday, March 02, 2008

Fort Lauderdale gays slammed for "Christian bashing"

The Rev. Gary Cass, a conservative Christian activist, is criticizing a representative of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for remarks at a Fort Lauderdale gathering called to mark the murder of a gay teen and bashing of a gay adult.

Referring to Matt Foreman as a "radical homosexual activist" Cass said he slandered the reputations of Christian ministers in Broward County.

"Foreman is guilty of gross Christian bashing, the very kind of bashing he says he opposes against homosexuals," Cass said.

Cass is head of the Fort Lauderdale based Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. He is best known as former executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, the now-closed organization that was affiliated with the late Rev. D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries.

Right-wing watch, operated by the People for the American Way, has its own take on Cass' organization here.

In a statement he released this afternoon, Cass commented on a video report (at left) on the Thursday evening event that's on the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Web site.

Cass' take is that Foreman is declaring that the pulpits of Broward County are teaching hatred of homosexuals, inferring that Christian ministers are in some way responsible for the murder of Simmie Williams Jr., who was found dead in Broward County on a sidewalk dressed as a woman.

"Radical homosexuals like Foreman are quick to exploit this tragic situation for their own political purposes and in order to bash Christians," Cass said in his press release. "Matt Foreman owes the ministers of Broward County an apology.

"Faithful Christian churches must oppose homosexual behavior, just as they must oppose other behavior they consider to be sinful, but where is the proof that any minister has ever suggested or condoned violence?" asked Cass. "The fact is, no one knows who killed Simmie Williams Jr. or why. It is pretty safe to assume that the murderer was not a church member acting on advice from his pastor."